Selfishness In Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

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I. Introduction a. “‘It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,’ Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.” (Jackson 5) b. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the residents of a small town have a drawing every year on the 27th of June. However, no one wants to “win” this lottery because the “prize” is being stoned to death by your friends, neighbors, and even your own family. c. Selfishness is strong enough to overtake even values as important as family. d. essay map i. Tessie Hutchinson didn’t care about what happened to her family at all, she only cared about what happened to herself. II. Point 1 a. Tessie Hutchinson was so consumed by her selfishness, that she didn’t even think about trying to protect her family from being stoned to death, instead, she actually volunteered them. b. i. Mrs. Hutchinson let her personal feelings overtake her family values. When she realizes that someone from her family will be stoned to death, she immediately …show more content…

She starts worrying, not about who in her family might die, but about the possibility of her dying. Rather than trying to save her young children from death, she volunteers her oldest daughter to be killed. “‘There’s Don and Eva,’ Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. ‘Make them take their chance!’” (Jackson 4) The Hutchinson’s don’t have strong family values. Even if they sit down to noon dinner together, that doesn’t mean they really care about each other. If they cared about each other they wouldn’t be standing apart from each other in their “assigned spots” during the lottery, they would be standing close together, maybe even talking about the drawing. If they really cared about each other, there would be no male dominance in the family, everyone would be treated equally. If Tessie Hutchinson really cared about her family, she wouldn’t be volunteering her children, she would be doing everything in her power to protect them. But she doesn’t care about them, because Tessie Hutchinson is

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